


Bad Day

by NekoAbi



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Panic Attack, anxiety attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-18 22:11:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19343662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NekoAbi/pseuds/NekoAbi
Summary: Virgil has had an awful awful day. Thankfully, his roommate knows just what to do.





	Bad Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is a birthday fic for [Cresstic](https://cresstic.tumblr.com/) on tumblr!

Virgil gulped in the fresh air greedily once he was finally free of his workplace. His fellow co-worker who’d been on close with him had already headed off to his car, leaving Virgil standing alone in the low evening sun. After a few moments to revel in the peace of it all, the young man pulled the headphones up off of his shoulders and into place before starting up his music at a loud volume. He hoped it would drown out the thoughts of the day, but he was already aware that it wasn’t going to happen.

As Virgil walked the extremely familiar path back to his home, his thoughts were swirling. Usually work wasn’t so bad for him, but today was just the worst and he had a full week of it.

Virgil hadn’t been informed of the temporary new manager the company had brought into their branch, and so had acted as he normally would. His usual manager allowed him various accommodations due to his high levels of anxiety, mostly letting him off of working tills or communicating with customers if it was a particularly bad moment for him. The manager would also show Virgil everything he needed to do several times over, working alongside him to ensure that the anxious young man would be fully aware of what he was doing. If anything got messed up, the manager was kind and didn’t scold him too harshly. It was probably the best job Virgil had ever had.

But this temporary manager was from a different branch store from a few towns away and had a very different way of working. Virgil, almost immediately after stepping into the back and being introduced to the manager, had an awful feeling in his gut about this guy. At one point, the young man had been starting to feel a panic attack coming on, so he asked his manager if he could take a few minutes in the back to calm down.

The manager had shot him down immediately. “Why do you need to? You look fine. Stay here. You’re not allowed to leave here until the end of the hour.”

Virgil had to power through his panic attack, taking abuse from some non-regular customers who accused him of many things; being too slow, too quiet, too disrespectful. Thankfully, the regulars gave him the space he needed, though the temporary manager was breathing down his neck constantly, adding even more criticism.

Even his breaks were filled with this awful man. For some reason, the divine being that looked down on them all was really out for Virgil as he spent his lunch break with the new manager. He attempted to mind his own business, eating and scrolling on his phone, but the man was relentless and took up the seat directly opposite Virgil. He continually talked and talked and talked and Virgil had to escape to the staff bathroom for just a moment’s reprieve.

The rest of the day had gone just as bad. More critique from the manager, even being compared to some of the other staff by the man. Virgil was feeling extremely bad by the time the manager had left, leaving him and one other person for the closing hour.

All of the events of the day continued to replay in Virgil’s mind as he thought over what he should have or could have done to avoid all the awfulness of the day. His hands were shaking so much that even as he clenched them into fists and shoved them deep into his hoodie pockets, it was still a little visible.

The anxious young man almost cried in relief as he turned onto his street and saw the door to his place approaching. He fought the sudden instinct to run, just in case anyone around saw him and began to make fun of him or something. Instead, Virgil picked up his pace just slightly and quickly made his way to the door.

After unlocking it and slipping inside, Virgil could finally relax. He hunched over and allowed the shaking to overtake his entire body, his arms coming to wrap around himself protectively.  _‘Fuckfuckfuck not again.’_  Virgil managed to think as he waited for the inevitable tears to roll down his cheeks. His situation made everything around him sound like it was so far away, preventing him from clearly hearing the sound of his roommate calling for him.

Then there was a careful hand lightly resting atop one of his arms. Virgil’s head snapped up and he gasped, gulping in the air. Patton looked at him, compassion in his eyes. Ever so carefully, Patton coaxed him through a couple of the techniques Virgil had shown him to help with his panic attacks. It took a good few minutes, but eventually Virgil felt like he was able to breathe once more. He took slow, purposeful breaths as the aftershocks continued to wrack his body.

“Come on, Virgie. Let’s get you somewhere more comfortable…” Patton spoke so quietly, as he always did after one of Virgil’s panic attacks. With all the care in the world, the other man’s arms managed to get Virgil’s body off of the floor and back up onto his feet. He led him to the couch, where the TV was still playing some movie.

The anxious young man curled up in the corner, watching as Patton left him to go to the kitchen to get some drinks for them both. After placing both of their respective mugs down onto the coffee table, the other man went around and gathered almost all the pillows, blankets and soft toys the pair owned. It was clear he was about to make them a nest to relax in for the rest of the evening.

Patton set to work, arranging everything on the couch space next to Virgil when he heard a soft mumbled, “’m sorry…”

He turned to his roommate, with a gentle smile, “And what are you sorry for, Virge?”

Virgil avoided his gaze and shrugged, his mouth covered by one of the blankets that Patton had playfully tossed over him as he’d passed by, “Everything…”

A breath of laughter passed through Patton’s lips, “You have nothing to be sorry for, Virgil. I promise.”

“But ‘m weak and stupid…” Virgil buried himself further and further into the blanket, slipping once more into his anxieties.

Patton stopped working on the nest and sat down, comfortingly rubbing where Virgil’s leg was under the blanket, “You’re not weak and you’re definitely not stupid. Could a stupid person hold his own against Logan’s debating?”

“Well, no, but…”

“And!” Patton interrupted loudly, “Could a weak person hold their own against Roman and eventually put everything from the past behind them and be able to see him as a friend?”

“Pat…”

“You’re so wonderful, Virgil. I promise, everything I say to you is true. It’s hard to see and hard to accept for you, and I understand that.” Patton smiled warmly, his expression turning fond rather than determined, “That’s why I’ll tell you as many times as you need to hear it, because I believe it so much.”

Virgil’s face was bright red under the blanket. He had no response to Patton’s words, so he instead huffed a little and shifted about on the sofa, so he could lean against his roommate’s shoulder.

“Hey, no cuddling until my construction is finished!” Patton laughed, pushing against Virgil’s arm with almost no force.

Virgil groaned and moved back over, “Fine, let me help. We’ll get it done quicker.”

Between the two of them, it took almost no time to set up their little nest. Patton had surprised Virgil once more when there was a knock at their door and he rushed to get it, returning with pizza. They settled into their blanket nest on the sofa, slowly worked their way through the food and cuddled.

It was sometime late into the night when Patton felt the need to stretch. He managed to do most of it without disturbing Virgil too much, but the man realised something was a little strange when his roommate hadn’t looked up at him or moved at all. Patton looked down at Virgil a little concerned, but it all melted away when he saw a peaceful sleeping face.

Patton couldn’t help himself. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Virgil’s temple, “Sleep well, Virgie…” Patton whispered before turning the TV off and leaning back to sleep himself.


End file.
